“How to sneak out of a Nigerian prison” – Bashar Ali

An inmate of Kaduna Prison, Bashir Ali has confessed to the police how he managed to sneak out of the prison for days just to collect his share from a robbery incident that took place in Kano.

The Kano state indigene whose mother is from Tokyo, Japan, was arrested alongside some of his gang members .

The Prison inmate narrated how he began his journey which started as far back as 2010; from the sale of a property belonging to a friend of his. He was charged to court the same year and was sentenced to seven years jail in 2015 after awaiting trial for two ears.

The gentle looking man who speak fluent English said it was greed that landed him in prison that he was from a good home. To our astonishment we got to know that he was married with three kids.

He said he had the option of travelling to Tokyo if he was not satisfied with my financial status in Nigeria but yet decided that he will stay.
On further enquiry, it was discovered that he was chosen to be amongst the prison farmers and he was saving the proceeds to start a new life when he finished serving his sentence.

Bashir Ali gave us an insight on the structures of prison activities. The prison outlay gave them room to roam around freely and sneak in and out of the yard unnoticed with head count coming at intervals respectively 10am, 12pm, 2am and 6pm. So if you don’t want to get into trouble, wherever you go, you must return for head count.”

He also alleged that the prison warders who were taking care of them were aware of these movements and normally keep tab on them.

“It is a game of trust. The prison warder must approve of your movement so that if you mistakenly fail to return on time, he will give you a number in absence. We all have phones and whenever you cannot make it back on time, you will call the warder and tell him. It is also your responsibility to ensure that the warder is well taken care of financially so that he can cover for you in case you want to travel and spend some days outside.”

In the prison, he exchanged contacts with fellow inmates who in turn contacted him as need arises. On his recent arrest, he narrated how a former prison inmate of his beckoned on him, telling him how needs to raise money to meet personal need and how he was nabbed once again.

The seemingly sober inmate said he was now a changed man who was barely looking for money for salah celebration for his nuclear family and the warders who treated him kindly on his most recent arrest.

He made us understand that so many people who stole chicken and goat that are in prison simply because they could not afford the option of fine given by the magistrate.

“I assure you that by the time they spend a year or two serving their sentence they will steal a car as soon as they are released,” he alleged.